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CU Denver breaks ground on Auraria campus building

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The University of Colorado Denver will break ground at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 31 on the 120,000-square-foot Academic Building on the Redwood Parking Lot at the corner of Speer Boulevard and Larimer Street on the Auraria Campus.

The event kicks off CU Denver’s 40th anniversary celebration. When the $65 million building is completed in 2014, it will provide CU Denver students a home of their own on the Auraria Campus.

"This new building will play a pivotal role in the evolution of CU Denver by addressing growth, community and a campus identity," says Don Elliman, chancleor of the University of Colorado Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus. "It will have a transformational impact on our students and their families, our campus and our city."

The new building will consolidate student services and house the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The building, designed by Denver-based AndersonMasonDale, will be the first built and owned exclusively by CU Denver on the downtown campus and be visible to more than 25,000 motorists daily as they travel along Speer Boulevard.

"Students will see this building being built from the ground up," said Raul Cardenas, associate vice chancellor of student affairs. "This is a tremendous opportunity for us as a campus to bring together all the things we’ve been trying to do to create a sense of community."

Additional programming and design services will be required for the approximately 68,000 square feet that will be vacated by the moves to the new building. The vacated spaces will be in multiple buildings on the Denver and Auraria Campus. Backfill projects should be completed by fall 2015.

Those participating in the ceremony will include University of Colorado Denver Chancellor Don Elliman, University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, University of Colorado Regent Michael Carrigan, CU Denver community, business leaders and invited guests.